Well, we were not home in time to catch up with the Royal Victoria Park demo, so forgive me if I just quickly highlight another story affecting the people who sleep on our streets and, of course, elsewhere.
The Prime Minister says he is offering a route off the streets beyond this winter as he commits a further £432 million to his flagship pledge.
This marks the next stage of an announcement he made on his first day in Downing Street to stop accepting rough sleeping as a fact of life and unite the country behind a mission to end it.
Reacting to this, Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, said:
“In the West of England, we are working with local charities, councils, and other partners to offer everyone sleeping rough somewhere safe to stay by Christmas. Across society, we can all play a part to help end rough sleeping.
“This latest funding boost from government is another big step towards achieving the national mission set out by the Prime Minister. With almost £900 million already announced since the summer, more people will be able to get the support that they need.”
The pledge to offer everyone who needs it a route off the streets by Christmas alongside longer-term support was backed by £442 million, which is already delivering on the ground with specialist outreach and accommodation.
This includes new bedspaces already up and running in Coventry, with more to come in places like Plymouth and the City of London over the next few weeks.
Ahead of the Budget, a further £432 million announced today will extend that support beyond March 2027 through to the end of this Parliament, taking total investment since the Prime Minister’s pledge to £874 million.
Recognising that the government cannot end rough sleeping alone, today [Monday, 26 October] the Prime Minister will host the first Rough Sleeping Summit at Downing Street. This brings together business, charities and local leaders to unite behind the mission.
Those attending are helping turn that ambition into lasting action as they come together today. This includes the National Housing Federation identifying thousands of currently empty homes that could be brought into use, Virgin Media O2 and IKEA providing practical support for frontline organisations, and L’Oreal Group piloting the UK’s first Social Salon with St Mungo’s.
Together, the new funding and pledges will help people find a home, a job, and a more secure future.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said:
“Rough sleeping isn’t a fact of life. It’s a thing governments either choose to accept or don’t.
“Well, I don’t accept it. That’s why we’re doubling funding so that people aren’t just offered a safe route off the streets this winter but have that same support right through the rest of this Parliament too.
“But we can’t do it alone. If we’re going to end rough sleeping, we need every part of society behind us on this. So today we’re bringing together businesses, charities and local leaders in Downing Street to make sure this is a solution that lasts.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey said:
“No one should ever have to sleep rough, which is we are doubling our investment to more people and providing a chance to break the cycle and end sleeping on the streets of our country – not just this Christmas, but for the years to come.”
Secretary of State for Housing Angela Rayner said:
“This is a big ambition – we know that. But we will not back down from making sure everyone has the offer of a route off the streets this Christmas. This summit is about bringing every part of society together behind that mission. Ending homelessness is not only a moral imperative – it will make our communities and our country better off.”
“The first step is giving people a roof over their head and freedom from the nightly struggle to find somewhere safe to sleep. But Christmas is only the beginning and that’s why we will keep working together to tackle the root causes of homelessness and end rough sleeping for good.”
Today’s Summit brings organisations from across society together to play their part, with new pledges including:
- National Housing Federation working with housing associations to identify at least 2000 potential homes and bedspaces, including empty homes for people moving off the streets, working closely with local authorities.
- Social Bite is forming a new partnership with the government to expand its modular supported accommodation model, combining a settled home with intensive and community-based support.
- Salvation Army working with their housing association Salvation Army Homes and public-sector partners to develop social housing, modular accommodation and move-on options, including provision for people with complex needs for whom mainstream accommodation may not be suitable.
- UnLtd / Key Fund partnering with government to help social ventures create sustainable jobs for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
- Virgin Media O2 providing new support around devices, data and connectivity, in partnership with charity Refuge, helping women and their children affected by domestic abuse and experiencing homelessness stay connected to services and support.
- IKEA is combining direct funding, advocacy, employment programmes, community partnerships, and customer and public awareness-raising campaigns to tackle both the immediate impacts and underlying causes of homelessness.
- L’Oreal Group launching an innovative ‘Social Salon’ partnership in the UK with St Mungo’s and Haircuts4Homeless, supporting rough sleepers with wellbeing provision.
- Morrisons Foundation pledging to launch the Good Food Fund, providing £500,000 in grants to support communities to tackle food insecurity where it hits hardest, including supporting charities providing relief to people who are sleeping rough or at risk of homelessness, in support of the Prime Minister’s drive.
- ReGenerate is launching a partnership with Liverpool City Region, in coordination with the Liverpool Mayor’s new Homelessness Taskforce, to find ways in which businesses can do even more to tackle homelessness, such as through driving pathways into employment across the region
- Comic Relief committing further resources to tackle homelessness and housing insecurity, helping to raise public support and awareness in 2027.
- Landsec offering access to its screens at Piccadilly and others across its retail portfolio to amplify homelessness charities and causes nationwide.
- The Faith and Homelessness Collective, mobilising action across a group of 100+ church leaders and leaders of faith-inspired homelessness and housing organisations to support the PM’s instruction to offer everyone a route off the streets this winter.
- A coalition of philanthropic funders signalling their commitment to millions of pounds of investment into preventing homelessness, including a £10 million commitment from Julia Rausing Trust, and Henry Smith Foundation providing £500,000 of match funding with Birmingham City Council, to support Greater Change in providing relational support to rough sleepers in the city.
- Over 30 organisations and investors from the impact economy – representing billions of pounds – signalling support for the PM’s drive and working with Government to bring more investment into move-on homes, support the organisations that help people stay housed, open up jobs and training, and put more money into prevention.
